MBTiles viewer
View MBTiles files (.mbtiles) on a 3D map in your browser. SQLite container of pre-tiled raster or vector map tiles. No account, no install, no upload until you decide to convert or hand off to the rooot.it route planner.
Open the viewer → or jump straight to a conversion:
About MBTiles
MBTiles is the de-facto packaging format for offline map tiles, originally designed by Mapbox. A single .mbtiles file is a SQLite database holding tile data (PNG, JPEG, or gzipped MVT vector tiles) addressed by zoom/x/y, plus a metadata table with bounds, zoom range, and attribution. Tippecanoe and tilemaker write MBTiles; TileServer-GL and the QGIS MBTiles provider render them.
How to view a MBTiles file
- Open the viewer.
- Drag your MBTiles file (.mbtiles) onto the page, or click the + in the Places panel.
- The file renders on a 3D MapLibre globe. Use the right-hand panel to toggle background layers (borders, labels, roads, buildings, transportation, places, terrain).
- Click features for details, or use the bottom toolbar to convert to another format.
MBTiles viewer FAQ
How do I view an MBTiles file in the browser?
Drop the .mbtiles on rooot viewer. The file is uploaded to a temporary tile-server endpoint and the tiles render directly on the 3D MapLibre globe — both raster MBTiles (PNG/JPEG) and vector MBTiles (gzipped MVT). Bounds, zoom range, format, and attribution are surfaced in the Places tree as the tileset's metadata.
Does this work with vector MBTiles produced by Tippecanoe?
Yes. The MVT tiles are decompressed and rendered through MapLibre. If the metadata.json carries `vector_layers`, each layer gets its own colour in the 3D globe; otherwise rooot viewer applies a generic per-source-layer styling so all geometries are visible.
Can I convert MBTiles to GeoJSON or Shapefile?
Not from rooot viewer — vector MBTiles tiles are pre-simplified per zoom level and decoding them back into a single FeatureCollection produces duplicated, lossy geometry. Use tippecanoe-decode or tilelive for that.
How long are uploaded MBTiles kept?
24 hours, then deleted by the cleanup job. Tile responses are cached in the browser for the session via standard Cache-Control headers.
Is rooot viewer free?
Yes. No account required. There are no per-conversion or per-view charges.
Does rooot viewer upload my files?
Files are parsed server-side for rendering but are not persisted unless you click Convert or Open in roooute. Persisted files are deleted within 24 hours.
Privacy
Files dropped on the main viewer are parsed server-side for rendering but are not persisted. Persistence happens only when you click Convert or Open in roooute; persisted files are deleted within 24 hours. Direct conversions through the per-format converter pages do not persist anything at all.